About 7% of Americans suffer from onychomycosis, a fungal infection of the nail, particularly the toenail. More than 90 percent of cases are caused by one of two pathogens: Trichophyton rubrum or Trichophyton mentagrophytes. Factors that have an important effect on the development of onychomycosis include increasing age; genetic susceptibility; and the presence of certain disease states such as diabetes, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, or peripheral arterial disease. Of particular concern are diabetics who are nearly three times more likely to develop onychomycosis than nondiabetics. It has been reported that up to one third of diabetics develop nail fungus. In diabetics, slow healing, particularly in the feet, is common and foot infections of all types can be difficult to treat and may end in amputation.
Feet exposed to a warm, dark, moist environment can get infected. Some people may already be genetically predisposed to onychomycosis. For those who are susceptible, the condition is highly contagious. The best way to avoid onychomycosis is to keep feet clean and dry, washing them at least once a day and drying the toes well. Shoes and socks should be changed daily and should also be kept dry.
Onychomycosis is a medical condition with cosmetic impact because it disfigures the nails. Nails can become thick, discolored, loose, brittle, hard, yellow and painful. Nails are epithelial structures derived from primitive epidermis made up of keratinous fibrils. Once nails are infected, even if healthy nail is grown out, the susceptibility to infection may remain and the condition can relapse. Furthermore, healthy nails can be reinfected.
There appears to be no certain cure for onychomycosis. Current treatments include medications such as itraconazole, terbinafine, ciclopirox and fluconazole, respectively sold under the names Sporonox®, Lamisil® and Diflucan®. Unfortunately, such medications do not eradicate the problem for many patients. Instead, such treatments typically take months to work, depend on the nail bed growing out completely, and are sometimes damaging to the liver. Moreover, through the course of treatment patients oftentimes re-infect themselves. Indeed, only about 12% of patients treated with Sporonox have fungus-free nails after one year. Infected nails may also be debrided (cut and thinned) with uncertain results. As a last resort, infected nails may be surgically removed.
U.S. Patent Application Number 20080207537 includes chlorine dioxide in a long list as a non-preferred oxidizing agents for increasing permeability in the treatment of onychomycosis. The patent application, however, requires a reducing agent followed by an oxidizing agent separately and sequentially.
Thus, there is an existing need in the art for a method of treating onychomycosis that is safe, quick, and effective.